


Keep Looking

by semperama



Series: Tumblr Ficlets - Pinto [4]
Category: Star Trek RPF
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Facetime, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-11-23 15:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11405709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semperama/pseuds/semperama
Summary: Chris doesn’t notice the text—you looked good tonight—until he gets back to the house.





	Keep Looking

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the dialogue prompt, "You looked good tonight."

Chris doesn’t notice the text— _you looked good tonight_ —until he gets back to the house. After the premiere, there was a small after-party, just a few beers with the guys, and by now Zach is probably asleep. And that’s probably for the best, anyway. It’s the kind of message Zach shouldn’t be sending anymore, and the kind of message Chris shouldn’t be replying to.

Which doesn’t explain why he types out a quick _Thanks, man, wish you could have been here._ before he sets his phone down on the nightstand.

He’s halfway through stripping out of his suit when it vibrates again. Frowning, he walks over and looks down at the screen. 

_wish i could have been there too. missing you a lot tonight._

Chris squeezes his eyes shut and presses his fingers against the bridge of his nose. His shirt is half unbuttoned, and one foot is bare, and this all seems appropriate for the crisis he’s having now. The last time he was having such a crisis over Zach, he was in a similar state of undress. 

With a little alcohol in his bloodstream, and the adrenaline of the premiere still coursing through his veins, he feels brave. He picks up the phone and opens FaceTime, then calls Zach. It doesn’t take long for him to answer.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Zach says. He’s half-sitting up in bed, and the room is mostly dark save for the faint light coming from the lamp somewhere to the left of him. His hair is soft-looking, falling in his eyes, and his expression is unguarded, like he might have been on the verge of falling asleep, or possibly just woke up.

Chris meant for this to play out a certain way, but all his plans go out the window the moment he opens his mouth. “Just thought I’d give you another look,” he says. “Albeit a little less dressed-up than before.”

He has the phone angled so Zach can see as low as the rise of his collarbone past the open neck of his shirt. Zach stares silently for a moment, then smiles.

“I won’t complain about the less dressed-up part. Even though you know how I love you in a nice suit.”

“Not as much as I love _you_ in a nice suit,” Chris counters, surprisingly himself at the earnestness of the words, and of the smile that comes with it.

Zach lets out a happy little hum. He stares for a little while longer, and Chris can see his eyes moving, like he’s trying to drink in every part of him that appears on the tiny phone screen.

“I like your hair like that, Pine,” he says at last.

“Yeah?’ Chris runs his fingers through it, smiling a little bashfully. He can’t help but prompt, “What else?”

“I like you clean-shaven,” Zach says without hesitation. “Although I like you with a beard too.”

“I remember how much you like me with a beard,” Chris murmurs. He sits down on the edge of his bed, but keeps his feet on the floor. Laying down feels like too much temptation right now. 

As if he’s sensing Chris’s mood, a shadows passes suddenly across Zach’s face. “Listen, Chris–”

“Hey, no,” Chris cuts in, shaking his head. “Let’s not do this, okay? Not over the phone. Just…” Just what? Why did he even call? He’s not sure he knows. “Can we just…talk? For a while? I just…want to look at you.”

Zach looks like he wants to press the issue, but eventually he crumbles, letting out a deep sigh and forcing a smile. “Sure. Sure, we can do that.” His smile grows wider, more genuine. “I missed your face.”

“So keep looking,” Chris says quietly, “until you don’t miss it anymore.”


End file.
